The first was an 88 year old women from an ECF brought in for difficulty breathing per the staff. She had a room air sat of 82% upon arrival that managed to climb up to the low 90s with a non-rebreather. Blind and unable to speak, she was barely conscious and unable to straighten out her legs in the bed. Probable pneumonia, labs came back showing severe dehydration, and echo revealed an EF of 10%. Her daughter followed her in, and stood at the bedside for hours reading to her mother and stroking her hair. With her DNR, there was little we could do but wait for a bed upstairs.
The second was a 45 year old male who collapsed while playing basketball at the gym. Brought in by paramedics in full arrest, we coded him for 30 minutes without success. At one point we thought we got a pulse back, but a quick check on the ultrasound showed no cardiac activity. Several members of his family rushed to ER, and we could hear their crying from the family room for hours.
Two very tough ways to go, but at least both we lucky enough to have loving families nearby.
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